First Impressions

[LJFHutch]

Starting to really enjoy it, played busting the bocage as Germany, a draw despite having more points and holding 2/3 objectives, not sure how that works but anyway. It can do some amazing scenes, just messing around in the editor:

Can't wait for this one

[DeLaVega]

I haven`t read all posts, so I don`t know whether someone has mentioned it already, but I really would wish for new sound samples. Not only as a CM disciple from the first hour, but also to recognize the weapons involved easier. The vehicle sounds have enough "bang", but the "lighter" weapons sound quite similar. I miss the typical M1 Garand clip extraction sound (they definetely have some Normandy touch for me :-) ) and MG 42 , .50 and .30 cal should sound really distinctive. Not only for some audio variety, but also to get some feedback on the weapon system involved without zooming in on the units.

But maybe that could be a modder`s task?

Still, would be nice if it was included right from the start.

Other than that: Dense atmosphere!

[Sgt Joch]

The problem I see is that historically the Germans dug MG nests and positions right into the Bocage too. There's also lot's of photos of foxholes dug right into the bocage hedges.

true, but there is limit to how much detail you can put into simulating bocage, right now you have: hedge, low bocage, high bocage; to which you can add trees and play with the elevation to get many different variations. You have small and large gap tiles. You have trench, foxholes, bunkers, sandbags...

Basically, you can setup the same type of defences the Germans used. Foxholes behind a Bocage tile work the same as foxholes dug into the bocage itself. It does not block LOS/LOF and gives the defender a concealment and defensive bonus.

[YankeeDog]

I haven`t read all posts, so I don`t know whether someone has mentioned it already, but I really would wish for new sound samples. Not only as a CM disciple from the first hour, but also to recognize the weapons involved easier. The vehicle sounds have enough "bang", but the "lighter" weapons sound quite similar. I miss the typical M1 Garand clip extraction sound (they definetely have some Normandy touch for me :-) ) and MG 42 , .50 and .30 cal should sound really distinctive. Not only for some audio variety, but also to get some feedback on the weapon system involved without zooming in on the units.

But maybe that could be a modder`s task?

Still, would be nice if it was included right from the start.

Other than that: Dense atmosphere!

Can't say for certain, but the sounds may be downsampled and/or simplified for the demo, to reduce the download size.

IIRC, it was this way with the CMSF demo.

But in any event, I'm sure sound modders will be putting out mods of various flavors very soon.

[zukkov]

hat's off to ya bfc! excellent effort and it shows! fighting in bocage is very nerve wracking cuz as everyone knows there's a german behind every bush!

[Thomm]

Foxholes behind a Bocage tile work the same as foxholes dug into the bocage itself. It does not block LOS/LOF and gives the defender a concealment and defensive bonus.

Are you sure??!? :confused:

Best regards,

Thomm

[massive1974]

hat's off to ya bfc! excellent effort and it shows! fighting in bocage is very nerve wracking cuz as everyone knows there's a german behind every bush!

LOL. and lots of them to make it 10 characters.

[PondScum]

Did you try this High Priority Process = On?

I had almost no response from mouseclicks and menus when it was set to OFF, I could move around camera a bit but that was it.

Yep, I tried that, didn't help. I just figured out a workaround though - use the mouse! If I move and pan by pushing the mouse cursor to the edges of the screen, it works just as I'd expect, i.e. very responsive, smooth scrolling. If I use W/A/S/D, it often lags. Sometimes I'll press the A key and nothing will happen for 3 seconds, then it'll finally start moving left. Weird...

Other suggestions:

• When I'm giving an infantry unit move orders, the highlighting on the ground showing where it'll move is quite hard to spot: the contrast seems very low.
  
• How about listing save games in reverse-chronological order, i.e. newest first, instead of oldest first? Cuts down on scrolling in the typical case, i.e. "let me start up where I left off"
  

[AstroCat]

How about opening a save game dialog box, so we can manage our saved games?

[toxic.zen]

yes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwESraWEpSU

[PondScum]

My first real dislike: tank movement. Oh deary dear, are these drivers learners? Are tank controls really that binary? I'm watching my tanks rush forwards then slam on the breaks, rocking wildly, then turn, then rush forwards again, then repeat... those poor guys inside must be getting sick-as. I'm getting sick just watching them!

Put in small move segments in corners: in the tutorial mission I found the Shermans needed this to make even 45-degree turns on the road, otherwise they'd do the move/stop/lurch/turn/move thing you saw. So instead of plotting one move into the corner, and another move out at 45 degrees, I plotted the first move to just before the corner, a second move through the corner at an angle of (roughly!) 22.5 degrees, and a third move out of the corner. This gives much smoother movement.

I'm assuming that:

• For high-speed moves you might have to slow down too.
  
• Some tanks are better or worse at this (e.g. Shermans have a low turning score)
  

[Rocky Balboa]

I'm playing the demo and all I have to say is you guys have really done a great job. I've played CMSF and perhaps its just the addition of the temperate environment but the improvements you've made really shine. So far I've found no issues and its just a joy to play. once again its absolutely awesome.

[freeeman]

I played all the cm, none of the new engine

I read nothing, just loaded the game up.. to see how intuitive and try my hand..

Well, I am going to need to read the manual to figure out the why does this do that stuff, but basic orders and such are obvious and intuative.. grade B+

no tooltipping is the only minus and why I gave it B+ rather than A

graphics.. what can I say, this is awesome

A+

computer time flow etc...

Great A+, not a huge scen but barely nudged the temp on my card.. ran super smooth on a fairly fast rig

overall.. this is unbelievable forthe graphics, game play will depend on the ai, but so far it looks good on defense.. will see how it handles attacking

overal A

recommendation.. purchase and get one for your friends to play h2h...

[stone75]

Played first few games and must admit i think i prefer smaller battles. Just too much going on for me to keep track of especially my AI.

I like..

Good frames on the whole

Graphics are nice

Sounds are nice

Gameplay on realtime was good

Look forward to smaller QB when game is released

I don't like..

The lack of detail options in game ie being able to have less trees without having 50 tellegraph poles or less undergrowth causing poor frames low in the woods.

Friendly AI. I order squads to a bocage line and mortars to the field behind the bocage line. I turn my attention away and all of a sudden i have 3 squads running into the next field into a hail of MG fire. I carried on and then noticed now my mortars are leading the charge. Baffling !!

The unit icons are huge and clunky. I'd love to be able to graphically mod them in the future.

Anyway on the whole looks to be a great game. Just a shame i'm having to babysit my units for fear of stupidity.

steve

[LemoN]

Basically, you can setup the same type of defences the Germans used. Foxholes behind a Bocage tile work the same as foxholes dug into the bocage itself. It does not block LOS/LOF and gives the defender a concealment and defensive bonus.

Hmm, I didn't try foxholes behind the bocage yet as I wasn't sure about the relative spotting. So foxholes make the infantry see as if they were right behind the bocage as opposed to a tile away?

I'll report back how that turn out.

EDIT:

Nope, instant LOS block.

[Johnny Canuck]

Runs well, the games does at 1152x864 on my 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo Laptop with a 9600M GS video chip running Win7.

It will take some getting used to the changes in the keys and commands, however it looks great.

Thanks much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JSj]

Friendly AI. I order squads to a bocage line and mortars to the field behind the bocage line. I turn my attention away and all of a sudden i have 3 squads running into the next field into a hail of MG fire. I carried on and then noticed now my mortars are leading the charge. Baffling !!

I haven't played very much yet, but I have not noticed any problems with the pathfinding. Most likely this was the only way for your units to get to the point you ordered them to go to. If you, for instance, order them to a point on the other side of impassable terrain like a bocage line, they might have to go around a long way across other fields to get to their target point. I suspect this is what happened to you.

[Comandante]

Started the three hour download before I left for work this morning. Now I sit here at work thinking of what excuse I can use to leave early today.

How about, "I have to go home early and play CMBN"? You never know, the boss might just say "Me too!!!"

[ChrisND]

Friendly AI. I order squads to a bocage line and mortars to the field behind the bocage line. I turn my attention away and all of a sudden i have 3 squads running into the next field into a hail of MG fire. I carried on and then noticed now my mortars are leading the charge. Baffling !!

It sound like they were following the only path available to them, or there was an errant waypoint added somewhere.

[derbius]

Tooltipping would be helpful I think. And some way of more easily visualising gently rolling terrain to enable infantry to place themselves easily behind ridge lines. As it is you have to place the camera 'on the floor', trace line of sight, try to figure out where it is blocked, remember that spot and move to it. I always get it wrong... I also find that I can't seem to ask my infantry to go exactly where I want - I click on a spot and the movement indicator is placed somewhere nearby. Is that to indicate that with several people they will naturally move in an imprecise blob?

[Sgt Joch]

Friendly AI. I order squads to a bocage line and mortars to the field behind the bocage line. I turn my attention away and all of a sudden i have 3 squads running into the next field into a hail of MG fire. I carried on and then noticed now my mortars are leading the charge. Baffling !!

you have to be careful with bocage, infantry can only cross through a bocage "gap" tile (recognizable because there is a shoulder legth gap) or an actual opening. If you order infantry to just go straight through, the AI will plot a path through the nearest "gap" tile or opening.

Before going through bocage, I go down to the 1 level to spot the gaps and plan the path accordingly.

[LemoN]

Is there any way to set my MG's to "only shoot at infantry"?

It's slightly suicidal to have them open fire at a tank when the enemy infantry hasn't come into view yet...

[BigJ62]

Big difference to CMSF environment kind of like a diorama come to life. Also notice a big difference on the performance tab in Task Manager between CMSF and CMBN – very, very curious.

Starting to get the hang of boscage just need to move faster. That 81mm roasted one of my squads and 30cal mg.

Now all I need is the full game to give the editor a rigorous work out.

[stone75]

you have to be careful with bocage, infantry can only cross through a bocage "gap" tile (recognizable because there is a shoulder legth gap) or an actual opening. If you order infantry to just go straight through, the AI will plot a path through the nearest "gap" tile or opening.

Before going through bocage, I go down to the 1 level to spot the gaps and plan the path accordingly.

Thanks for the tips guys but its not quite what i meant. I order them to get to a position, they get there and all is fine. Later they uproot themselves and start pushing into the next field straight into MG fire. The mortar squads were ordered to the middle of a field to setup. They get there and all seemed fine but the next time i look, they have crossed the rest of the field their in, gone through a bocage line, and are on their way to Germany as far as i can tell.

I'm going to play again to see what happens but these guys are not bad pathfinders, just going places i did not tell them to go after being sat around a while. Its alot like theatre of war when tanks would move up of their own accord and get dead unless you put them on guard.

steve

[Moon]

stone75 - here is what may be happening: when you doubleclick on a unit, all units in its formation are selected as well, and if you then place a movement order, it is automatically applied to all the other currently selected units, too.

You can play with "Show all Paths" toggled on to try and avoid it (or spot it more easily when it happens).